TheBanyanTree: FW: HomeEc

[Sharon Mack]

...and I have Momma's recipes for the pot pie, her Scottish shortbread and
her lemon curd and I have Poppa's wedding cake pans.  I inherited
them...thanks, Bonz!!  Hee hee!

Sha

-----Original Message-----
From: thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com
[mailto:thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com] On Behalf Of Bonnie Brace
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 1:55 PM
To: Banyantree
Subject: Re: TheBanyanTree: HomeEc

Funny thing about HomeEc in my school. I grew up in a very small town in
southern Maine.  My Freshman year there was a merging of 3 towns into one
brand new school. Which meant we now had 450 students in the whole school
instead of 100. My parents thought it would be a good idea for me to take
one year of HomeEc, even though I was in the college prep course of study
and it normally wasn't offered. I never understoond why though, All the
things I learned about cooking and baking I had already picked up from
Poppa, He had been teaching me how to cook and bake ever since I was a
little girl. 

Poppa was the Chef of the house, that is how he made his living so needless
to say he made sure everyone knew how to cook, even my brothers. Poppa even
took the credit for what a great cook my Mom was. It all started when my
parents were married, Momma didn't know how to cook. Her mother never let
anyone in the kitchen because she did it all. So when Momma got married she
knew nothing about preparing meals. 

One day Momma decided to surprise Poppa with an old-fashioned New England
Boiled Dinner. For those of you who don't know what that is it is; boiled
ham, potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips,& cabbage you put them in one pot on
the stove and let cook for several hours until everthing is nice and tender.
That is just what Momma did. She dumped everything into a huge pot of water,
placed the cover onit and turned the stove on. After about 4 hours when she
went to check on her dinner everything was still hard as a rock. So she put
the cover back on and turned the heat up a bit more and let the dinner cook
a few more hours. By the time Poppa came home from work the dinner had been
boiling over 8 hours and it still wasn't done. Momma was in tears because
her surprise was ruined and she couldn't figure out what was wrong. 

Poppa gave her a big hug and kiss, told her not to worry and took off the
cover to check out the problem.  When he looked into the pot he roared with
laughter. The reason nothing was cooking was because Momma never cut
anything up. She just dumped all the ingredients into the pot and added
water. The turnips needed to be cut up, along with all the other vegatables
and the cabbage and the ham was still in its netting.  >From that point on
Poppa told Momma he would teach her how to cook. And teach her he did.
Momma became a great cook in her own right,She would make the best chicken
pot pies around. Her pie crust was so flakey that is all you would want to
eat. 

Not only did she know how to cook, she also knew how to sew, which she
taught me so by the time I got to take HomeEc I really already knew the
stuff.  Thank goodness I only had to take one year of it and not have to
suffer through all four years like some of the girls. Today I credit my
Poppa and Momma both with teaching me how to cook and Momma with teaching me
how to sew. Poppa taught me how to Embrodier, and all the other domestic
goddess stuff was pounded into me by Momma. But I gave most of that up when
I got divorced and the girls left the nest. Now I basically just do what I
want since I'm on my own and the girls are on their own!  

<>>>>>>>>>>---------Bonnie